Extremism a midwife for a new unity? - Power shifting to the margins

Whether you regard Fianna Fáil as the Soldiers of Destiny or as the sleazy political wing of auctioneers’ and developers’ confederations it might be wise to consider issues raised at the party’s parliamentary party meeting this week when the party’s very poor performances in the recent bye-elections were analysed. 

One of the issues discussed is relevant, ever more pressing, for moderate parties right across Europe.

One deputy, Longford-Westmeath’s Robert Troy, warned his colleagues that the party “will be the next SDLP” unless they become relevant. If failure to do that meant no more than the death of Fianna Fáil, or at least the pin-striped Fianna Fáil that dominated political life for decades and orchestrated economic catastrophes one after another, then that might not keep too many people awake at night but, as the demise of the SDLP has shown, when moderates are outflanked extremists prevail.